Book 1: Following in His Footsteps
by TheUppercut
Summary: On the morning of August 17 2277, James Frost did the unthinkable. He left the underground shelter of Vault 101 and fled into the ruins of The Capital Wasteland. And he did so without his only son, Nathaniel. Faced with paying the ultimate price for his father's flight, Nathan too fled into the barrens above. And so the child was born anew, christened a Wanderer, for all time.
1. Born

Once his eyes adjusted to the burning rays of what must have been the sun, Nathaniel J. Frost stood in awe of what lay before him. It seemed that he had come to the edge of the world. He stared with his mouth agape into the barrens, overwhelmed by an unending landscape of ruin.

Nathan took a step forward and clutched at his side. For a moment, the sight of the wasteland had made him forget the world of trouble he left behind. It hadn't yet sunk in that perhaps the bullet in his gut was the least of his worries. His father was somewhere out there.

Moving toward a stone that seemed stable enough, Nathan sat down as easily as he could and clicked on his Pip-Boy. He ignored the medical alert it presented and quickly closed the window. It didn't take advanced tech to know that he was shot.

He scrolled across the menus until he found the application that stored audio catalogs. As it turned out, James had not left his son behind without any last words. Nathan remembered how he acquired the holodisk message and his stomach turned. They had beaten him to death. Jonas, the man who he had grown up with, the man who Nathan had considered a second father figure, lay cold in a pool of more blood than he had ever seen. If it weren't for his medical uniform, Nathan wouldn't have recognized him. It was only by chance that he had seen Jonas's holodisk, which had slipped from his uniform's pocket and unto the floor next to his corpse.

In hindsight, Nathan had to wonder if this message had been the one that condemned Jonas to death. Anger and anticipation coursed through him, he had to know, and he hoped the reason was worth the lives lost or destroyed last night.

Nathan's heart skipped as he heard what he knew could very well be his Father's last words.

_"Hold on Jonas, I need to record this first."_

_"__I... I don't really know how to tell you this. I hope you'll understand, but I know you might be angry. I thought about it for a long time, but in the end I decided it was best for you not to know. So many things could have gone wrong and there's really no telling how the Overseer will react when he finds out. It's best if he can blame everything on me. Obviously you already know that I'm gone. It was something I needed to do. You're an adult now. You're ready to be on your own. Maybe someday things will change and we can see each other again. I can't tell you why I left or where I'm going. I don't want you to follow me. God knows life in the vault isn't perfect, but at least you'll be safe. Just knowing that will be enough to keep me going."_

Nathan then heard Jonas's voice.

_"Don't mean to rush you, Doc, but I'd feel better if we got this over with."_

_"__Okay. Go ahead. Goodbye. I love you."_

And that was it. The tape ended as abruptly as it had started and Nathan was no closer to an answer than he had been a moment ago.

He turned off the Pip-boy and twisted himself around to peer at the entrance of Vault 101. "You love me? That's your excuse. Un-fucking-believable."

Inhaling deeply, He lifted himself off the rock and stood as straight as he could and peered into the wasteland once more. "No… There's more to this. There just has to be. You wouldn't do this to me without a reason…"

Taking another breath Nathan came to the edge of the slope and began making his way towards the road below. He moved slowly, taking care not to slip on the loose gravel, though he wasn't careful enough as he lost his footing and tumbled down face first on the asphalt.

He lay there for a moment cursing his luck, before picking himself up. "Fuck," he uttered, holding his stinging forehead. Once his vision cleared, Nathan headed east for Springvale.


	2. Brave New World

It was all too surreal. The world was hot and brown and scorched all over and the air smelled. Like what Nathan didn't know but it wasn't pleasant. A far cry from the cool sterile atmosphere inside the vault.

There were plants to be seen, though they were as brown and likely as dead as everything else seemed to be. Nathan kept walking and looked to his right and saw an old water tower out beyond the shriveled remains of blackened trees and gigantic rocks. He ran his fingers along the rusty guardrails that still stood beside the road and glanced at the many old newspapers and forgotten articles that were strewn every which way across the asphalt.

As he passed the broken wreak of an old automobile he began to wonder exactly what sort of place he had been thrust into. He had seen photos of the world above ground but the ruin was like nothing he could have imagined. Soon the road led right into the town of Springvale. All at once Nathan knew that things were as bad as the Overseer always said.

It was a sea of skeletons. Scarcely a building had a roof and a lot of the old wood was brittle and crumbled beneath Nathan's touch. Though there were other structures that stood strong and felt as sturdy as stone. Rubble and tattered papers and chunks of metal littered the broken streets and automobile carcasses of all kinds could be seen. In the distance, there was more of the same accompanied by broken power poles and towers which Nathan assumed had lost their power ages ago.

As dismal as everything felt, Nathan was filled with curiosity. He came across one of a few metal boxes that still stood outside of one of the many derelict homes. It took a few moments before he recognized the structure as an old mailbox. He opened the box and found a letter, surprisingly still legible, addressed to a family from Vault-Tec. The news must have been devastating. The family wasn't chosen for entrance into Vault 101 and thus the company had damned them to brave the apocalypse alone.

'Shit. I wouldn't sweat it. You guys didn't miss a goddamn thing,' thought Nathan.

Though it came from increasing bitterness, he had to admit that even life with the Overseer, infuriating as it was, couldn't compare to the hellish landscape that lay around him. He shuddered to think of what fate befell the lost recipients of the letter. He hoped that at the very least their world ended in a flash of blinding light. Painless and seamless. Completely unlike what was likely waiting for him out in the wastes.

That too was beginning to occur to him. What chance did he have, his wounded condition aside, of finding his father in this great expanse of foreign soil? What would he do about food or water? All was quiet and he couldn't even be sure that this wasteland city he was going to was even still there. If Megaton was anything like Springvale he'd be finished before another day had come and gone. Worse still, if Megaton was still alive and well, as the Overseer's files suggested, how could he be sure that whatever people he found were amicable.

The more he thought about it the worse he felt. The odds of finding his father, alive no less were even lower than himself surviving another day.

It was all so unfair.

He had done nothing to deserve this. He was tired, his head was throbbing from both the heat and the fall he took, and there was still the matter of the bullet in his side. If nothing else, Wally's father was a good shot, though not an excellent one seeing as how Nathan was still alive for the moment and Mack was likely suffering from a severe concussion courtesy of his old baseball bat.

Nathan hated Mack, and most of the Vault security force barring a few and the feelings were requited. Still, he never saw it coming to this. Flawed as the vault had been, everyone was still a family, albeit a dysfunctional one, but a family none the less.

And then, his dad had opened the door and everyone had lost their minds. That prick, Officer Gomez, had been nice enough until the rest of the security team had shown up. Then he may as well have been a stranger. It made Nathan seethe with rage all over again and suddenly he was glad that Gomez too would be nursing a concussion alongside Officer Mack.

As bad as things were, Nathan couldn't help but feel worse for Amata. She was daddy's little angel, the golden child of Vault 101, everyone knew that but in the wake of madness she'd been nothing but another pebble in the chaos. The Overseer, her very own father, had not only allowed her torture but was watching it happen. All because she had helped him escape. Aiding the son of the enemy. It was certainly punishable under any circumstance but even more so because it was him.

There was a long history of bad blood between the Almodovars and the Frosts. James was the only resident of the vault that didn't fear the Overseer or his security. James made it a point to call him by his given name, Alphonse, rather than his position, something anyone else would have suffered for. Still, given his status as the sole vault physician, there was no doubt that James had immunity. A perk Nathan also enjoyed to some extent. If it were possible, Alphonse Almodovar hated Nathan even more than James, maybe more than anyone else in the vault. No doubt due to the affection his daughter always held for Nathan.

Perhaps Alphonse had always accused him of stealing Amata's innocence. Truthfully, it had been the other way around. Were he in better shape, Nathan could have laughed at the things that her father didn't know, would never know, now that the vault was compromised.

Amata had saved his life last night and for what, to face certain death in a world he knew nothing about in search of his Father who, Nathan apparently didn't know nearly as well as he thought he did. He had to stop the tears that badly wanted to spill. His own situation was looking to be hopeless and he had no idea what was happening back at home. For all he knew, Amata could still be at the mercy of her father or a few of his men.

He wiped at his eyes and wanted to say a prayer for her and everyone else caught in this new nightmare. Another wandering glance at the ruined town around him made him realize that God was far from the wretched place called Earth.

A whirring sound in the air alerted Nathan from his worries instilling a new sense of dread. He scurried into one of the ruined homes and took cover behind a blackened wall. He removed his 10mm pistol from his hip and readied it for whatever was making the noise that startled him. He waited for a moment, afraid to take a look, and began to hear a voice or a recording of a voice since there seemed to be some sort of interference interwoven in the speech.

The whirring sound and the voice grew closer and Nathan tried to imagine the thing responsible before he could see it. To his surprise and his relief, the source revealed itself to be a small metallic machine of some sort that was hovering above the streets. It looked weathered, thought not nearly as much as the surrounding ruins and to him it looked a lot like an eye.

This Eyebot, as Nathan had taken to calling it, wasn't doing anything particularly menacing. In fact, the voice he heard from it was rather soothing, cathartic even. It proclaimed itself as being someone called President Eden. It was a name Nathan didn't recognize as the last president he had read about was long dead, and that was over 200 years ago. Certainly there was no government to be had anymore, not with the world being the way it was. The messages were likely a pre war recording but it still gave Nathan a bit of hope that perhaps the Eyebot was a sign of life, and technological ingenuity, beyond what he could see. Perhaps there was some promise to be found out in the wasteland yet.

With his nerves restored, Nathan eased from his cover and moved slowly to his feet so as not to alarm the Eyebot, which could still be deadly despite its claims of restoration. The machine circled around and resumed its patrol of Springvale. Nathan stood as still as he could and the thing passed him without harassment. Nathan had wanted a better look; the gear head within him wanting at once to know what made it tick and if it were the same technology that powered Andy and the rest of the robots back home.

Alas, time was something he didn't have much of. His wound wasn't going to get any better on its own and it could have been a longer trek to Megaton than he realized. God forbid if he got caught out here in the dead of night. Anyone or anything could be lurking beyond his sight and while his pistol and bat had served him well enough in the vault, they were far from comforting.

Nathan wished he had brought his medical supplies. Pain killers being the least of what he needed. He had never done any sort of surgery on himself, as his father always joked about the foolishness of it, but it would have been nice to know that the option were there should the situation prove dire enough.

He took a moment to unzip his jumpsuit and lifted his tank top, which had been white but was now quite red and sticky from his wound. It looked as bad as it felt and he knew that it wasn't good. Certainly life threatening. He was hurting all over now and it was getting hard to tell exactly where he had been shot.

'Jesus, I gotta get somewhere' thought Nathan with increasing panic. 'Please be there Megaton.'

Just then, a scream and sounds of a distant struggle pierced the air. Nathan immediately thought of the Eyebot but it wasn't far from where he was standing. It was much too close to have made the sounds he'd heard. Another Scream followed by gun shots and laughter resounded from the land and Nathan's gut told him to ignore it and move on. The fool in him though was stronger than his gut and he felt compelled to follow the commotion.

He had little to offer, but whoever was making the sounds might have needed his help. The thought of other people, out there as alone as he was, was irresistible. An ally or at the very least a kindred spirit was just what he needed to put him at ease and help him find his way.

He made his way north, cutting through an old playground and past a large fueling station with a gigantic Red Rocket. Next to it Nathan saw a large rusty sign which had been painted with the word 'Megaton' in large yellow letters. He took notice of the sign but his mind was now focused on the new situation at hand.

His foot caught the edge of an old tricycle and he nearly fell again. He caught himself and pressed forward past an old swing set and more wreaked vehicles and downed power poles. He ventured past a few more homes, including an old ranch, which were intact and seemed habitable. He began to approach them when more cries and now even laughter drew his attention away from them.

Nathan came to a Stop sign at the intersection beyond the homes and saw a building, far larger than the others and in much better shape. It was a school, an Elementary school once he was close enough to read the massive sign in front of it. As he drew closer to the school, so too did the din of voices. Soon the voices took shape and Nathan saw a group of men and women, dressed in strange leather garb, surrounding a trio of downed men.

Horror seeped into Nathan's face as the beatings began. He took cover behind a large tree and hoped that he hadn't been spotted. By his count there were at least six of them; two women, four men. The girls for their part, were content with watching the men assault the victims who where middle aged, if not elderly.

One of the older men let out a scream and swung wildly at the assailants. A lucky haymaker struck home, and one of the leather men was sent reeling, not a crippling blow, but solid enough that the silver haired man could make a break for it.

His escape was nearly thwarted by the leather clad people who began drawing their guns. The fleeing man's compatriots took up arms and began a deadly skirmish for control over the weapons. It wasn't successful and the pair were easily beaten back down into submission.

Their friend had been lucky enough to escape beyond the rocks but the brutes seemed to lose interest in him once the old men had gotten uppity.

Nathan heard one of the women snicker about how they were going to start cutting off limbs now. Her friend, the other woman in the group, began laughing about how best to prolong the men's torture. Nathan cringed once one of the men proclaimed in an amused voice how long it had been since he'd fucked an old man in his ass. The entire group burst out into a fit of laughter.

Nathan clutched tightly at his pistol from behind the tree shaking in fear from what he knew was a certain end for the old men across the way. He wanted badly to help them, to save them, but how could he? He didn't know anything.

He knew that the old men could have been guilty of some horrible unknown crime. They could have just as easily been innocent. Or not. He knew nothing, he was certain of that and of the fact that he could do nothing lest he risk joining the old men in the sand. And so Nathan sat, impotently, waiting for them to move on, taking the screaming men with them into the old school.

He heard the doors slam shut with an immense thud and the maniacal laughter and screams were abruptly shut off. Wiping the sweat from his brow and blinking away the sting of sweat that had fallen into his eyes, Nathan found the courage to stand up and peer around the corner at the school. His eyes scanned the ground where the struggle had been, and let them follow the trail of blood and discord that led into the big double doors. He rubbed at his face again, smearing new sweat across his soft features and thought to himself that there was nothing he could have done.

Nathan took another glance at the school, which he now saw as a cold wicked place; A place better left to braver souls than himself and made his way back into the main street of Springvale.


	3. Megaton

The sight of the large rusty sign post that pointed the way to Megaton was a momentary relief to the memory of the horror he had witnessed at the school. Nathan followed the sign southeast down the road, seeing more of the same sights as he did so. With every stone he passed, Nathan half expected one of the leather clad men from earlier to lunge out at him. He kept his pistol in hand just in case and hobbled breathlessly on his way.

He went on like this for nearly five minutes until he came to another Megaton signpost pointing south. Nathan leaned against the old sign draping his arm across it and resting his head in the crook of his arm. He breathed in ragged breaths and released them slowly. He was beyond tired now and the wound at his side pounded with pain.

"Fuck me, please be close," Nathan rasped through heavy breaths. He opened his eyes and lifted his head to look in the direction of where Megaton was supposed to be. He lifted himself from the sign and stood puzzled at the sight over the horizon. A large brown dome jutted from the wastes in an imperfect way. It didn't seem to be composed of any one piece of metal but rather several, mashed together in a way that made it look ragged and somewhat menacing. It didn't look at all like a city as Nathan knew them. Instead, it looked more like an immense pile of metal. As if it had once been something tall and majestic.

"Oh no," Nathan whispered. His worst fears were beginning to set in and twinges of real dread were twisting in his stomach. "Please be something else."

As he neared the dome of metal, descending down a slope of more rocks and withered trees, Nathan began to see that what he feared was an immense scrap heap was turning into something else entirely.

The closer he got the more intimidating the place became. There seemed to be no visible entrance but he did see what could be mechanical hinges, which meant that something might lead to a potential way in. In the middle of the structure was what looked to be a turbine, like those Nathan had seen on ancient aircraft carriers in Brotch's books back home.

Nathan was within the shadow of the place now and he approached with even more caution than before. Out of the corner of his eyes, Nathan spied an old man kneeling against a stone in the dirt. If memory served, and it did, this was the same old man that had escaped from the elementary school from before. He looked as bad as Nathan felt and he felt compelled to say something to him.

"Hey, sir?" Nathan began, feeling foolish for asking. "Are you, alright?"

The man jumped, startled at first, looking up at Nathan before sighing and placing his head in his hands. "No, I'm dying. Everyone's dying."

He had been crying and Nathan saw that he was beginning again. He couldn't blame him not after what he witnessed.

He put his hand on the old man's shoulder and tried to offer some sort of comfort. "Listen, everything's gonna be okay sir. Where is this? Is this Megaton?"

The old man fell over onto his side, nearly making Nathan fall with him. "No, no everything's not okay! They're all dead. Dead!" sobbed the old man. "I left them… It should've been me… It should've been me Lord!"

"Hey, hey! Listen to me!" said Nathan yelling over the man, shaking him to attention. "I know you're hurting but listen to me! Where is Megaton? It's the only chance we've got out here!"

It took the old man a few moments to collect himself before he could answer. "This is Megaton, have you been living in a hole or something? Everyone's heard of Megaton…"

"Thirsty partner? Try Moriarty's. Coldest drinks in the Capital Wasteland."

The cold metallic voice startled Nathan and he twisted around brandishing his pistol at the vaguely human robot behind him. Somehow he had missed the clunky machine on the way in.

"Welcome to Megaton," the robot continued. "The bomb is perfectly safe. We promise."

"What the hell is that?" said Nathan as the robot continued its string of greetings.

"It's the security," said the old man weakly. "Deputy Weld. You really aren't from around here are you kid?"

Nathan holstered his gun and grimaced from the worsening pain at his side. "No I'm not, I'm from…" He was cut off by the deafening sound of metal scrapping against metal, and at once he was reminded of the sound of the Vault door's opening from earlier that morning.

Nathan didn't know what was causing it but somehow, little by little, the great rusty barriers of metal were opening, revealing the true gates of the city he had been seeking.

"Enjoy your stay, partner," said Deputy Weld just after the gates had completely opened.

Nathan left the old man's side and began walking past the cordial tin man and into the mouth of Megaton.

The old man called out to him then and grabbed his hand. "Son, wait. Do you have any water? This heat'll be the death of me."

"I'm sorry mister, all I've got on me is what you see."

The old man looked crushed and he let go of Nathan's hand. "Oh I see."

"It's not like that," said Nathan returning to the man's side. "Here, gimme you hand."

The old man weakly snatched away from his grasp and fell back down into the sand. "I can't. The fuckin' snobs don't allow my kind in there."

"What do you mean?"

"The broke kind. Just leave me."

It occurred to Nathan then that he didn't know the poor man's name. The assault that had happened back in Springvale had broken his spirit, and after what happened to his friends Nathan couldn't just leave him to his fate a second time. It would be worse than cruel and Nathan thought that it would be bad to die without anyone knowing your name.

"Sir, I can't promise you anything, but if I make it inside I'll see if I can't send someone to help you. Get some water to you. What's your name?"

The old man looked up at him and gave a weak laugh before looking away from him again.

"You're the worse. Just leave me alone."

"I'm serious," said Nathan. "What's your name?"

The words seemed to strike the old man as genuine enough or perhaps his fading hope had taken the last of his defenses.

"It's Micky."

"Alright. Find some shade and breathe. Try not to go too far Micky."

It was a foolish thing to say given the circumstances but it was all Nathan could muster in the moment. If he took it easy and didn't give into the grief, Micky would last another day, maybe even a few. The same couldn't be said of himself and Nathan hoped that Micky's views of the Megaton populace had been skewed by his situation.

As he approached the large metal doors, a voice from above called out to him. Nathan looked up and saw a brown man in armor with a silver rifle standing more than 50 some feet above him.

"Hey boy! I'm letting you in. See this in my hand? It'll put three more holes in that ass if you don't know how to act."

Nathan was going to say something back to him but was cut off by the big gates in front of him sliding open. Soon a whole other world lay open before him and Nathan, his eyes now as large as eggs, began moving into the city.

Once he was beyond the threshold, the man from above the gates had one last quip to offer.

"Mind yourself in Simms's city!" he yelled before holding up his rifle in a threatening way. "Remember what we talked about!"

And then the man above left from Nathan's sight and activated whatever it was that opened the gate, closing it again.

Nathan sucked in his breath as he was now truly free to see Megaton in all her glory. To say that it was huge was the understatement of the day. Megaton in the truest sense was little more than a massive hole in the ground. So deep and dense that he could scarcely make out the many buildings that lay at the bottom of the crater. It seemed that everything that was Megaton had been literally built from the bottom up, until the haze of brown rustic buildings grew to the top of the immense pit, expanding outward in all manners of construction until they crashed against the city walls.

Nathan took a few more steps forward and noticed that the earth of megaton itself was pierced by massive old pipes of all kinds. They zigzagged not only through the ground but also jutted out in awkward ways, traveling over buildings and even through them in some places. This assortment gave Nathan the idea that not only was the handiwork crafted by amateur hands but that the entire city was born out of haste and a good deal of desperation.

Another eyeful of the city brought another revelation. A good deal of the buildings seemed to be based on or were literally made out of aircrafts and large automobile parts. In fact, now that the scope of the place had begun sinking in, Nathan realized that Megaton was very true to his initial notion. The city was a glorified scrapheap. He had to wonder where all the parts had come from and if the origin sites were still nearby.

Most curious of all to Nathan was the atmosphere of the place. All around him he saw people of all sorts bustling around, keeping themselves busy with work and labor and yet the silence around him was stifling. For all the people he saw, all the motion and energy he felt, hardly anyone was talking. The men and women went about their day, speaking only when necessary and never about friendly topics. 'Hello's' and 'excuse me' and the occasional 'um hmm' were the only things so far that surfaced from the crowds. And it was for this reason that a distant heavy voice cut though to him quite easily from the masses.

"Well I'll be damned. You're from that vault, Vault 101. I ain't seen one of them jumpsuits in a long time," said the jovial voice.

Nathan turned and saw a man in a wide brimmed hat clad in a large brown leather duster approach him from below. He emerged from the earth like a lumbering beast and Nathan could tell that he was a man of influence.

He stopped just short of bumping into Nathan and introduced himself.

"Name's Lucas Simms, town sheriff. And mayor too, when the need arises. I don't know why But I like you boy! Something tells me you're all right. So welcome to Megaton! Just holla if you need something."

Nathan felt as if he was standing in front of his father and Simms certainly had the mass and height to warrant the comparison. Like James, Lucas was well over six feet and he had a great big barrel chest, noticeable even from beneath his duster. A thick black full beard framed his dark face, nearly hiding his friendly smile.

The closeness of him and the welcome speech caught him off guard and Nathan just stood there for a bit longer than he intended. Simms raised a dark eyebrow and crossed his arms.

"The quiet type huh? Might help keep you outta trouble. I hope you ain't a weirdo. God knows we got plenty of those already."

The shift in his tone made Nathan find his manners.

"I'm sorry sir, I'm just, everything's so new and well," He said between breaths before stopping to extend his hand for a shake. "Name's Nathaniel. Nathaniel Frost. This is a nice town you got here, sheriff. It's a pleasure to meet you. I didn't mean any offense."

Simms accepted the gesture and gave a near crushing hand shake. "None taken boy! Nice to see a young man with some home trainin'. We're gonna get along just fine. You be good to my people and you're welcome to stay as long as you'd like. Now, if there's anything you need…"

The sheriff trailed off once he noticed the dark stains on Nathan's jumpsuit. He quickly put his hands on the smaller man's shoulders and concern washed over him.

"Jesus kid, what on earth happened to you out there?" asked Simms.

It was unintentional but the pressure on his shoulders was more than Nathan could handle. He lurched forward, falling into the sheriff's chest before slumping down on his knees.

"Someone put a bullet in me," Nathan rasped, feeling more and more faint with every word. "You have any doctors? I don't know if…"

Simms put his arms and around Nathan and kept him steady.

"We'll get you to Doc Church. He's just who you need. Come on boy, I gotcha."

Simms helped Nathan to his feet and held onto him tightly. The duo began to descend down into the depths of Megaton, carefully passing over those rickety pipes in their path. After what seemed like an eternity, the two came to where the clinic rested near the center of the crater.

Nathan was sure that he had mentioned old Micky's plight to the sheriff; but then, between the bullet wound, the fog in his head and the seemingly two-headed cow that stood outside the clinic staring him in the face, he couldn't be sure of anything beyond the fact that he was glad that the old man had been wrong about the city.


	4. The Miracle of Sleep

The room was dark, illuminated by soft lights whose origins were unknown to him. He couldn't move, paralyzed by the bronze goddess that danced naked in front of him. He wanted so badly to touch her; feel her hot moist flesh against him, feel her mouth on him in places that ached. His thoughts too were taken by the sound of music, smooth saxophones and the steady beat of thumping drums.

She knew what he loved. She kept her back to him, swaying to and fro, winding her bare robust hips to the jazz music that permeated the room. The woman bent forward, her rhythm unbroken, and swatted herself on the ass. A quick stroke but he saw it all in slow motion. The impact of her slender hand, colliding with her thick brown cheek, the slow wave of flesh that rolled over her body, sending droplets of sweat onto the floor.

Amata was cruel in that way and it was something that had aroused him since childhood. She teased him constantly and now was no different. Her lure was simple and innocent. She made men believe that she could be taken, easily and often. She'd moan and fight, just enough to make you think that she was yours. And then, nothing, because she wasn't easy or fragile or any of those things.

He sat in wherever he was, he wasn't sure, where she now had him again like so many times before. Her breasts were large, her waist miniscule, and her hips were things that men only saw in places that didn't exist.

The perfect hourglass for the perfect woman in a perfect setting without imperfect people. That was the dream that he had lived and now had again. She gave her fat bottom another hard smack; the droplets of sweat catching the light in a spectacular way, before she began twirling around and around like a charmed cobra towards him. Amata snaked her way to him like this, her hair freeing itself from its bun, and sending more of the magical droplets in every direction.

The droplets were no longer content with losing themselves on the floor. Now they hung in the air around them like stars, each giving off their own bit of light basking their mother in an ethereal aura.

Amata came to her last twirl, stopping just short of him, where she fell into his lap with weightless ease. Nathan's breath caught in his throat as he felt her nakedness against him. She slowly draped her arms across his shoulders and leaned in for a kiss. Nathan closed his eyes and waited, hungry for the familiar taste of her. She avoided his lips and instead caught the lobe of his ear. She suckled him like that until she felt his steel beneath her. She rhythmically grinded into him, riding him cruelly, both inviting and refusing his body entrance into her own.

Cruelty was her specialty and the sting of it left him wanting more. And he could have her, were he not bound to his chair.

"I can't touch you," breathed Nathan. "Why the fuck can't I touch you?"

Amata ignored him and continued the sweet assault on his ear. She grinded into him harder and Nathan heard the chair screech backwards over the floor. The tiny stars that had come off of her danced around the room, flickering wildly. Though he was oblivious to them now that she was on him. If only he could move, get his hands on her, make her pay for her sadism. He'd take her to the floor, bend her over and pierce her, just like she loved. And she would beg him to make her come.

"Something's wrong," Nathan whispered. "Why can't I touch you?"

She stopped her work for a moment and answered him in Spanish.

"Usted no está aquí…"

He thought that she would continue but her form, that beautiful face, the weight of those heavy voluptuous hips were beginning to fade. The sea of miniature stars around them were getting brighter. Soon the light was unbearable and Nathan mashed his eyes shut to avoid the intensity.

He tried in vain to struggle free from whatever was holding him before she vanished completely. He tried once more to call out for her but Amata was all but gone. As she departed, he could hear words though now they were garbled and distorted.

And then his eyes flew open.

The light was flicked away but he was still quite blind, only this time it wasn't a dream.

"Well now, it's about Goddamn time you got up," said the voice. "Boy, Now I done been over the rules with you. Yer botherin' me."

When his vision returned, Nathan realized that he was lying down in an uncomfortable bed inside the Megaton clinic. The man above him, Doc Church, was looking at him in a way that seemed to say that he had overstayed his welcome.

"Boy you've overstayed your welcome," said Church putting away the small flashlight he was holding. "Now you been in here for two damn days just hollerin' and kicking about vaults and women and whatnot. Botherin' me and my patients. For a guy that had a bullet in him you don't seem like you belong here."

Nathan tried to sit up but the older man placed his hands on him and kept him down.

"Just a minute," said Church. "Two things: payment and diagnosis. Your pick."

Nathan sat for a moment looking at the older black man with a confused expression. "Two days? You're certain?"

"Am I sure? This is my clinic. Now I can forgive your confusion once, on account of that wound, but that's it."

This time Nathan was allowed to sit up and he expected a stab of pain but to his surprise he found none. He ran his hand along his side finding only smooth flesh and a passing soreness.

Nathan threw Doc Church a crazed look. "Diagnosis."

Doc Church leaned forward and pulled a small deformed piece of metal from the medical pouch at his side. "Son, I pulled this out of your left side. It's a 10mm round. Nicked your kidney. Fortunately a round like this is low velocity so it wasn't too bad. Still, a busted kidney ain't nothin' to play with so it's a miracle you didn't drop dead out there."

Nathan reached out and Church allowed him to take the bullet from his hand.

"If nothing else you're lucky. Usually someone with bleeding like yours is a prime candidate for hypovolemia. That's shock and it's deadly, just so you know."

Nathan examined the bullet with mild interest before speaking. "Lucky isn't the word. Renal damage. I'm shocked I didn't have to undergo nephrostomy, or some sort of retroperitoneal draining. I'm a bit behind on things out here. How exactly did you treat me?"

Doc Church sat up and looked at him strangely. "Well, fuck a duck. Kid's got a brain. And here I had you pegged for another retard. You don't talk like no local and you sure as hell shouldn't know anything about medical procedures. You really are from that vault aren't you?"

"Yes sir. Born and raised in Vault 101."

"Huh. Well how bout that. Any way as far as treatment was concerned, I just cleaned up the blood, plucked out the bullet and gave you what I could spare to keep infection off you. I did what I could to save the organ but I didn't need any draining agents or anything of the sort."

"Wait. So it wasn't some kind of miracle drug, no special treatment?" asked Nathan in disbelief.

"The only special treatment I gave you was my time. The only question I got is what the hell are they putting in that vault water? After that shell was out you started putting yourself right back together. Never seen nothin' like it."

Nathan spun around so that he was now sitting on the edge of the bed. "Putting myself back together?"

Doc Church leaned backwards in his chair draping his arm over the back of it. "You sound as surprised as me. After you finally drifted off to sleep I'd come back in every hour or so and bam (he hit his hands together) little by little that hole in your gut closed up."

Nathan again looked at where his wound was supposed to be, giving his side a gentle pat. "Accelerated healing? But that's…"

"The stuff of fiction? Indeed and yet here we are. Doc Church again went into his medical pouch and held up a syringe with a gauge. "As far as I know, a stimpak is the closest thing we mere mortals have that can do what you can. Even then the things take more than half the time to do what you were able to with a good night's rest. But I digress."

Just then, a knock on the door behind them halted the conversation.

"It's open!" yelled Church.

The metal door lurched opened and Lucas Simms appeared to greet them.

"Well, Christ almighty," he began as he removed his cowboy hat. "Nathaniel! Still among the living. Mr. Church, you always know just what to do."

Doc Church held the stimpak up and tossed it gently to Nathan who deftly caught it.

"Mr. Simms. Well, genius out here is a rare find. You're all lucky for that. Still, this one wasn't all my doing. Kid's a miracle of nature, or a freak, whichever one you find less offensive."

Nathan chuckled a bit. "Hey man, whatever you want. Just glad to be here."

Simms walked over to Nathan and patted him on the shoulder with those big heavy dark hands. "Aren't we all. I'm glad you're alright boy. You had me scared. A lot of folks have shown up here in the same shape. Next thing you know, crematorium."

"Thank you Sheriff. Really," Said Nathan putting his hand over Simms's where it still rested on his shoulder.

Church smirked an amused smile before he slipped back into his usual hard ass routine.

"Now this is all very touching. But listen, I don't work for free."

"Excuse me?" said Nathan with confusion.

"You heard me. Now I'm glad we're all here to sing Kumbayah together but I'm a man of business. Which usually means I get caps for my work."

Nathan looked up at Simms. "What's he talking about?" He then looked to Doc Church. "What're caps?"

Doc Church rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair putting a hand over his face in exasperation.

"Kid, if you're fuckin' with me you better quit it. There's no way in hell that…"

Sheriff Simms intervened cutting off Church's rant. "Now, now, no need for all that Mr. Church. Boy's fresh outta a hole in the ground. Stands to reason that he wouldn't know a damn thing about money up here."

Sheriff Simms then looked back to Nathan with a bit more pity in his eyes than Nathan was comfortable with.

"I'll give you the short version. Out here in the wastes we use bottle caps for currency."

"Bottle caps? As in, right off of a bottle of soda?"

"That's right," said Simms retrieving a single cap from his leather duster. "In particular, these are from Nuka-Cola, real popular stuff from back from before the war. Somehow, there's still a shitload of cola to go around. Don't mind the stuff myself, still.

Sheriff Simms passed the bottle cap to Nathan who examined it with interest. It was small and red and the edges were slightly worn with 'Nuka Cola' barely legible across the top.

"So this is money up here?" asked Nathan. "It's kinda hard to see the value of it."

"I'm sure," Said Simms taking the cap back. "But you better believe that this here cap has killed more people out here than Deathclaws ever could."

"I don't even wanna know what a Deathclaw is."

Sheriff Simms gave a hearty laugh and again patted Nathan on the shoulder. "Trust me Nate, You'll know one when you see it. Of course by then, well, it'll probably be the last thing you'll see."

Nathan rolled his eyes, put his hands over his face and huffed a big sigh. "Jesus Christ... What the hell am I gonna do?"

"Ah, chin up boy. Fortunately, in this town there's a million things to be done. Ask around, you won't find a shortage of folks willing to deal you some caps for an honest bit of work."

Doc Church stood up and clasped his hands together. "Well alright, It's settled. Usually I don't let people walk out of here without leaving my money but I'm gonna cut you a break."

"See that. He's an ornery ol' bastard but he's got compassion in spades," said Simms making his way towards the door. "Still, round here we don't give out much for free. So make yourself useful."

Sheriff Simms flipped his hat skillfully onto his head and winked at the two before he left the clinic.

"Fuckin' showoff," Nathan heard Church utter under his breath. The doctor then disappeared briefly from sight and returned holding Nathan's clothes.

"Alright boy, get going. I cleaned that jumpsuit of yours." He handed the suit to Nathan all but shoving it into his chest. "You can wear it but I'd get myself something better. You'll need it if you plan on taking to the wastes again. Though I don't suppose you're too keen on getting shot up again anytime soon."

"My deepest gratitude Mr. Church," Said Nathan as he began slipping into the familiar blue jumpsuit. "I'd be dead if it weren't for you."

Doc Church turned his back on Nathan and waved as if shooing him away. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Just get lost. And take care of yourself, you get fucked up and have the nerve to come in here without my money again and I'll haul you to the furnace myself."

"Gotcha." Nathan smiled and turned to slip on his boots which were still next to the foot of the bed.

He made his way to the door and stopped just short of opening it.

"Uh sir? One more thing," said Nathan.

Doc Church shook his head and sighed as loudly as he could. "Good Gracious. What now?"

"How much did you want for the work?"

"It was on the house kid."

"Seriously. How many bottle caps were you expecting?"

Doc Church took a seat behind his desk and began sorting through a few manila folders. "50 caps for the cutting, 20 for the jumpsuit, 30 for staying here and another 25 for bothering me."

Nathan smiled and nodded his head up and down as he took it all in.

"Have a good one Mr. Church." And with that Nathan left the clinic and into the heart of the city. It was time to see what else Megaton had in store for him. He only hoped that James's trail hadn't gone completely cold.


	5. Responsibility

In depths of Tenlytown station, beneath the ruins of old D.C., James Frost leaned over a filthy sink and rubbed at the mirror with the sleeve of his jumpsuit. He went over the surface of it with small circular motions, careful not to do any more damage to the cracked surface. Every roll of his arm brought a slight ache to his shoulder. It was a small lingering reminder of how old he had grown.

With most of the dust and grime now on his sleeve, it was like seeing himself for the first time. The heat of the wastes, that unforgiving atmosphere, had given him back his color. A bit of time back topside had begun restoring him though after nearly two decades underground, he knew he had gotten weak. But he and his son had been safe, and that was what was important.

Catherine had been gone for longer than he had been in Vault 101. Their dreams had been shattered and with her a piece of him had died ages ago, lost in the fragments of time. His wife had wanted to change the world, and she could have were it not for him and their son.

James rubbed at his eyes and ran his hands through his graying hair. He tried to keep it out of his eyes but to no avail. He twisted at the rusty faucet and let the water run for a bit until it was clear enough for his tastes. He cupped his hands together and let the water, which was slightly irradiated, fill them. He splashed the water on his face, relishing the coolness, before going back under the faucet. James wet his scalp and succeeded in getting his hair to behave. He winced slightly at the tender spot at the back of his head. It was already healing itself but it too was a reminder of how age and the quiet physician's life had made him soft.

Twenty years ago one of those rotting corpses would never had gotten past his sight. His superior reflexes had gotten slower, even after returning to the wasteland. It had only been two days since his flight from the vault, and it made James wonder if he simply hadn't been under the influence of the wastes long enough. The ghouls were all in the lowest stages of the degradation that would eventually claim all of them that were cursed with the condition. The ghouls hadn't gotten any faster so it must have been that he was simply slowing down. It was a sobering thought.

His son was still back in the vault, safe but probably hating him for all that he was worth. But that was the way it had to be. He could have certainly used the help for what he was planning and if Nathaniel was anything like his old man, the wastes would make him stronger too, such was the condition of those who were natural mutates like themselves. Whatever the reason, the Frost family had enjoyed one of the few beneficial mutations that the wasteland had to offer. It was completely unlike the mass of Ghouls he had slain that laid scattered in the tunnels and outside of the bathroom where he was standing.

James felt a tug at his senses. It was only a slight blip in his mind's eye, which meant that the threat was minimal at best, and so he took the time to get another splash of water until whatever it was decided to show itself. It was more than a little foolish since his perception, like his physicality had no doubt taken a dive. But he wasn't dead yet and the 30 something ghouls he'd dispatched earlier couldn't argue with his current prowess.

Still he had a mission to accomplish and at 50 years old he'd never have another chance at it. The project in which he and Catherine had poured their entire lives into couldn't wait another twenty years for him to make a move. Nor could it wait for the next batch of young hopefuls to carry on his life's work. No, it had to be him and it had to be done for all the people of wastes, whether or not they appreciated it. Most of all, it had to be done for Catherine. James felt as if her spirit would be forever restless if he allowed the project to erode away with time.

James twisted at the faucet and the water stopped. He pushed open the old door with a loud piercing creak and looked for what was setting off his perception. He turned to his right and spied a lingering ghoul crawling towards him.

"Well now," said James again running his moist hands through his hair. "Aren't you the lucky one."

The thing was almost in half, dragging its shriveled entrails and bony legs behind it. It was dying to be sure, but like all of its accursed kind, it had a persistence that somehow kept death at bay.

James walked over to it not bothering to draw his magnum. He still had quite the journey ahead of him and there were far worse things waiting for him in the wastes than the walking corpses.

He stopped just short of the wailing thing and stood just out of its grasps. "If only I'd had more time. She had a plan for you lot as well."

With his last sentiments James stepped over the ghouls grasp and brought his boot down on its skull, shattering it in a pool of blood and foul smelling pus. It stopped moving. James sighed and moved away from the creature. He stomped his foot on the concrete, removing a little of the sickly matter from it before making his way to the exit leading into Chevy Chase.

He was a man torn between a plethora of responsibilities and moral obligations. He'd abandoned his only son in a vault where they no longer cared for him and no doubt saw him as a burden. He had abandoned his colleagues and the dreams they shared with Catherine in order to raise Nathaniel. To this end he had given his son twenty years of his life but at the great cost of all the others who had lives and loves all of their own. Nathan was a man now and he carried with him all of James's strength, love and intellect. James could only hope that it'd be enough to get him to someday understand why he had to leave him behind. It was wrong but it was necessary to make amends with Catherine's memory.

He closed his eyes and placed his hand on the old metal gate leading into the city above. He could feel them in his mind, his perceptive powers still too weak to give him a clear picture of where exactly they all were. Hundreds or perhaps thousands of them scattered about the city. They were his oldest enemies and the greatest threat to his work on the project. Hulking green monstrosities who only knew death and pain. And now again he'd face them, older and even less prepared than he had been since he'd faced them 20 years ago.

James chuckled a little to himself at the odds that he was facing. "Now I know I certainly made the right choice."

He opened his eyes and pulled the gate open, shut it behind him and stepped into the ruins of the city. It was just as horrible as he remembered. And just as he had dreamed many nights before, he could hear the mindless chatter of the Super Mutants. All those scattered voices, as thick as crickets on a summers night, nothing had changed at all. The city was theirs now and it made James wonder if there would be any humanity left to save should he succeed.

Still, he had to try despite the odds against him. He'd left his child behind and the few friends he had managed to make back at the vault to satisfy a decades old dream that a wiser man would have let die.

He crouched low and smiled to himself. "Alright," said James holstering his magnum in favor of the combat shotgun that was slung over his back. "Let's see if the old man still has it." And James moved without fear into the stirring chaos.


	6. VATS

Seeing Megaton from the bottom up was an entirely different experience. Nathan stood outside of the clinic where he could plainly see the town's namesake. Imbedded in the soil and surrounded by a shallow pool of irradiated water, stood a massive atom bomb. It looked as if it was still deadly and indeed the bomb had remained unchanged since the day it was dropped from a fighter plane more than a century ago. Once Nathan had gotten up close to it, he realized that it stood more than three or four times his height. The sheer size of it and the size of the titanic crater that had become Megaton were testaments to the destructive power of the people of old. It had been nothing less than divine intervention that had halted the detonation. And Nathan thought that it was a small wonder that there was any of the world left to be had at all.

Just standing in front of it was giving him the jitters. Of course, the feeling might have been coming from the ill water he was standing in. So Nathan decided that it was best to leave the bomb to the man on the other side of it. Nathan couldn't quite see him but he heard the sermon which, disturbingly, seemed to be directed to the bomb itself. It was something he wasn't eager to find out more about.

Now away from the bomb, he glanced around the town and decided that now would be a good time to test if he were really back at 100 percent. Nathan closed his eyes and breathe in deeply. He stood there a moment, taking in the sounds around him. He could hear the ramblings of the preacher, the sound of water rushing through the old pipes and even the very faint sound of birds in the distant sky above him. And then he released the breath in a loud HUFF and the world slowed to a crawl.

The people moved as if they were in a film that had been slowed frame by frame. Nathan peered around and tried to locate sheriff Simms and he found him in the upper levels of the city. He seemed to be showing a little boy, likely his son, how to take apart a rifle and assemble the parts again. Nathan looked for another target and zeroed in on the lovely brunette serving noodles to customers at the restaurant nearby. He then turned his focus to her customers seated at the bar. Three men and a young shapely woman sat munching very slowly on noodles and small pieces of shish kabobed meat. He narrowed his focus on their mouths, until he was able to count every masticating bite.

And then he released his hold on them and the world returned to its normal flow.

"Jesus H. Christ." Nathan said. He ran his hands over his arms and chest, as if checking himself for an injury. The power was nothing new to him, but he was thinking that he wasn't ever able to slow things down by so much. He had practically stopped the world and it didn't seem that the pip boy 3000 had even noticed.

It used to be that his peculiar talent was tiring at best on his mind, and staggeringly debilitating if overused at its worst. It was the real reason he wore his particular model of the Pip-Boy 3000. Far more of a medical device than as a way of receiving automated orders from the overseer, it relieved the natural strain from the ability. In particular, the device was sealed, almost permanently to his nervous system with a biometric lock. James had tweaked the machines a bit to make it easier for the two of them to focus and to prevent any dangerous stress on their metal facilities.

The Pip-Boy had the added bonus of sending digital data directly into the brain allowing them to see the world as a machine might. Though this was something of an exaggeration, since Nathan didn't see the world in infrared or green cubes or anything of the like. Still, it made his life easier and he'd had it for so long that he could scarcely imagine life without it attached to his forearm.

But it wasn't just the new mental prowess that surprised him. Physically, he felt renewed, invigorated and far more alive than he ever had. Nathan felt as if he had awoken from a long slumber; the sort of regenerative rest that touched every cell of his being and made him rise with supreme well being.

Every breath he took was deeper, more filling. The air no longer stunk of foul foreign smells. Now all he could smell was the scent of meat and new foods that he didn't recognize but was eager to try. He flexed and felt muscles tense and relax and found that he felt strength where he didn't before. It was exhilarating, and for once in his life he found that he didn't particularly care to know the science behind his new wellness.

Now that he was better, his stomach began speaking to him louder than anything else. Nathan sniffed at the air like an animal, ignoring the strange glances he got from the townsfolk, and allowed his nose to take him to the noodle stand at his left.

A loud long groan startled him and he jumped a bit which made him forget his hunger for a moment. Nathan walked closer to the animal that had made the sound and he realized that he hadn't imagined the two headed cow from the other day.

Nathan moved closer to it, his arms stretched out as if to say _I come in peace_, and he uttered a quiet "What the fuck…"

"We really should do something about the fucking addicts we let in here," Said the man who was standing next to the beast.

Nathan looked at him strangely before answering. "Man, I'm not high, just never seen a red two headed cow before."

The settler rolled his eyes and went back to tending the area around the beast. "Right. Never seen a Brahmin. Get lost kid. Yer upsetting my beef."

Of course Nathan had questions about these Brahmin things but it didn't seem as if the man was in the mood to answer him so he turned his sights back towards the noodle stand.

He strolled up to the stand and took a seat in a vacant stool at the bar. Nathan put on his biggest smile and raised his hand with more cheer than was necessary. "Hey, good evening everyone! Hell of a day eh."

The other settlers looked at him as if he really was on drugs. One of them, a pretty Asian girl, looked at him and grimaced before getting up and leaving the bar. Before long, the other settlers followed suit, taking their food with them leaving him by himself. Nathan slowly put his hand down, feeling as beaten as his gesture. "Okay… Some other time then."

The woman behind the counter closed the refrigerator at the back of the stand and approached the bar with a few bottles of Nuka-Cola in hand.

She looked at the empty bar where her patrons had been sitting and then to Nathan. "What the hell man? I'm running a damn business here."

Nathan raised his shoulders in a pitiful shrug. "I just said Hello to everyone..."

She gave Nathan a sympathetic look and chuckled a bit. "Hey man, don't take it personal. The folks round here ain't much for conversation."

She came right up to the bar and put the soda's down. He could see that she was pretty, more than pretty with a cute haircut that made her look like a domestic goddess. She looked like the sort of woman who was in his father's pin-up magazines, though her attire obscured much of her voluptuous figure from Nathan's sight.

Nathan perked up at her softness and again put on his manners. "I'm real sorry about that Ma'am. I'm Nathaniel. Pleasure to meet you."

He stretched out his hand for a shake and she took it and squeezed tight with surprising strength. "Don't you 'Ma'am' me. It's Jenny. I'm 25, not 55."

"Sorry about that ma'am, uh, Jenny," said Nathan. "Dad would always pop me if I didn't say it."

She was still holding his hand but she loosened up just a bit before looking away and chuckling. "No harm done sweetie. Can I interest you in a drink?"

When Jenny finally let go of his hand, Nathan found that he missed the contact. The last time he'd held hands with a woman, he was leaving behind the girl he loved. It was a thought that immediately dampened his humor and brought him back to the real reason he was sitting at a noodle bar in Megaton.

"Sounds nice but I can't afford it," began Nathan. "But I need to find my Father. Have you seen him? He's an older guy. He's tall, about 50 or so. I just need something, anything to go on."

Jenny turned and placed the glass she was wiping down on the counter. She turned to him with a pained expression.

"Oh man, you're looking for your dad? That is so sweet." Jenny came around to the side of the counter and stood next to where Nathan was sitting. "Oh no, did he run out on you when you were little?"

It was obvious that he had touched a nerve. Her earlier edge was gone now and her softer side began to show.

Nathan put his hands up in a way that said she was mistaken. "Oh no, nothing like that. It's just that…"

Jenny again grabbed his hand and cut him off. "See my parents died when I was little. We raised ourselves. My brothers and me. My brother Leo, he's the oldest, have you met him? He raised us. It was tough on him but you know what? we turned out alright."

Nathan smiled and again tried to get a word in. Jenny again was quicker than he was. "Oh but God, you don't wanna hear about that, do you? No I haven't seen him…"

This time, someone was quicker than she was and an irritated voice approached them from behind.

"You're damn right he doesn't want to hear it, 'cause it ain't none of his goddamn business," said the young man.

He was wearing what looked to be a leather outfit with a vest and a white t shirt beneath it. He was boyish in the face and didn't look to be much older than Nathan himself. Though, looks could be deceiving since to Nathan, Jenny looked like she was a decade older than she really was.

Jenny gave Nathan a look and rolled her eyes before turning to face the man. "Yeah, real nice Andy. Have some damn manners in front of folks."

Reflexively, Nathan triggered V.A.T.S. just as Jenny was turning from him. She turned very slowly and smoothly on her heel and he could really see her now.

Even through the dingy yellow jumpsuit she wore Nathan could see just how big her ass was beneath the outfit. It sat up quite high and looked to be impossibly plump. Her hips weren't nearly as wide as Amata's but if the way her jumpsuit was poking out was any indication, she could certainly give her a run for her money. It made him remember his dream from before and Nathan realized that it may be a while before he'd see another set of big naked buttocks in the flesh.

That thought immediately made him feel worse, so he released his hold on Jenny and the world sped up again.

Andy looked to Nathan and rolled his eyes just like Jenny did. "I'm all manners, Jen. But that don't mean you go around telling strangers our whole life story."

Nathan picked up on that. And thought that he must have been one of the brothers Jenny had mentioned earlier. They looked alike in the face and both made the same gestures which he found to be cute.

Jenny turned her back to Nathan, facing Andy completely now. "You're a real piece of work you know that? The kid's looking for his dad, we used to be right there with him. Nobody gave a damn about our struggle. Have some sympathy."

Andy moved closer to Jenny with his head cocked to the side and his finger raised to her chest. "Now listen here, that shit is old news. Ancient damn history, so forgive me if I don't care to bring it up to every vagrant I meet."

Jenny turned her head back to Nathan and snorted. "You hear this guy? That's what's wrong with this city, no one gives a damn about anything anymore."

Andy stood straight, crossing his arms, and lifted his head in haughty way. "If you think that's the only thing wrong with this city then you're even nuttier than everyone thinks. As for me, I like to focus on the here and now. Like why our still is always short or why our savings keep disappearing!"

Nathan got up from the stool and moved from the bar. "Well, I've gotta go. It's been nice meeting you two." He was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable with the sibling bickering, cute though it was.

Andy spoke a "whatever" and turned from his sister, disappearing into the walkways and into the through ways above the city. Jenny turned back to him and put her hands on her hips.

"Don't mind him. Andy's a good guy, he's just an incredible ass when he wants to be," said Jenny with a crossed look.

"I think he's kinda funny," said Nathan with a smile.

"Well you try living with him. I swear I've had to bust his damn nose every year since we were kids." Jenny paused then laughed a bit to herself before she spoke again. "Sorry, I just thought about how he used to run to Leo after I decked him. Cute little punk."

Nathan smiled a great big smile then, which made Jenny smile even wider. "It was good talking to you Jenny."

"Oh! wait a minute, come round here first," said Jenny quickly rounding the corner of the bar.

He did as he was told and he followed her around back. Jenny bent over and reached beneath the counter for a covered plate. Nathan couldn't help but strain his eyes for another look at her fat behind, but got himself together before she turned back around.

Jenny held the plate out for Nathan. "Here kid. Try this. I can't say it's fresh but it'll keep you going. Might even taste good."

Nathan looked at the plate and uncovered the contents. On the plate sat two miniature pies which looked nothing like what he was used to.

Jenny ran a finger across her forehead, putting a stray strand of hair back into place. "What's the matter? Don't like mirelurk?"

"Mire-what?" said Nathan narrowing his eyes at Jenny.

She looked at Nathan strangely then clasped her hands together in realization. "Oh damn, that's right. Sheriff says you come from a vault. Oh man, you probably ain't never had Brahmin either."

"That's the uh, red cow thing over there right?" asked Nathan pointing to where it stood near the Megaton Clinic.

"Yep. You learn quick Nate. One of the few things out here worth just as much as a handful of caps." Said Jenny picking up one of the little cakes from the plate Nathan was still holding. "Open."

He opened his mouth to say a _what?_ before Jenny quickly put the Mirelurk cake in his mouth. She smiled at the look on his face and put her lips together, making a kissy face, and moved her jaws up and down, showing him how to chew.

He squinted his eyes and chewed slowly, waiting for the inevitable bad taste. A few bites in and his eyes flew open at the tangy sensation and the new seasonings. The meat was delicious and exceedingly soft and both it and the buttered crumbling crust melted in his mouth.

Jenny smiled and playfully rubbed her fingers clean on Nathan's jumpsuit. "Face says it all. Is it that good or are you just hungry?"

Nathan chewed quickly and swallowed. "Absolutely Delicious! What is this stuff? How'd you make it? No wonder you own a restaurant."

She snorted and ran a hand over her hair. "Easy on the flattery. It's just your run of the mill Mirelurk cake. Nothing fancy." She turned her back to Nathan and again reached beneath the bar and brought up four more of the little cakes. "I'm gonna let you have the rest of these. They're gettin' a bit too old to sell."

Nathan was still standing there chewing frantically when Jenny handed him the rest of the cakes. She thought to herself that he looked adorable with his jaws packed full of food. She was thinking that he had such an innocent face, and that she'd probably never see him again after today. The wastes always got the cute ones first.

"Alright," said Jenny rubbing her hands together. "That's about as charitable as I can be for one day. Now off with ya."

Nathan stopped chewing for a moment and walked closer to Jenny. He extended his free arm and nodded with his head, beckoning for a hug. She looked at him strangely, her arms folded across her breasts defensively.

Jenny raised her eyebrow and shook her head. "Oh come on. Really, pal?"

Nathan was still standing there with his arm outstretched, smiling with his cheeks still full of food. He nodded, silently telling her that he was serious and tried to say "Come on, bring it in," though it was muffled and he spewed a few crumbs out.

She couldn't help but be tickled by the display and so she sighed, shook her head in defeat and opened her arms for the inevitable hug. Nathan skipped to her and caught her around the waist. She giggled, more amused than she meant to let on and put her arms around him.

He nuzzled her and tried to say 'thank you' which only sounded half right, tickling her neck a bit. She patted roughly at his back, a gesture that was supposed to tell any onlookers that the hug was completely platonic. Still, she couldn't deny that some genuine contact was really nice. She couldn't remember how long it had been since she'd hugged someone, something that was probably strange to the vault boy that had her in his arms.

"Alright stranger, that's more love than I can stand," said Jenny breaking the hug. "Good luck finding your old man, there's a whole lotta nothin' out there."

By now Nathan had succeeded in swallowing the cakes and could speak freely. "Thanks again. Soon as I get some caps I'll be back for some of that Mirelurk stuff."

Jenny retrieved a rag from her pocket and went back to cleaning the bar; she was smiling but didn't look back at him. "You know where to find me. Remember "The Lantern" if you need something."

Nathan stuck his hand high in the air and waved goodbye to Jenny before moving past the bomb and deeper into the city. Once he was gone Jenny snickered to herself thinking about how smoothly she'd been conned out of a few old cakes.


End file.
